Does H-E-B Pay Time and a Half? Holiday Pay & Overtime

For overtime, yes: that part is the law. H-E-B’s hourly partners are non-exempt, so every hour over 40 in a workweek has to be paid at 1.5 times their regular rate. For holidays, H-E-B doesn’t publish its policy. Partners answering questions on Indeed consistently say holiday shifts are paid time and a half and that working them is voluntary, but that is employee reporting, not a published rule, and it can differ between stores, warehouses and roles.

What the law guarantees an H-E-B partner in Texas

• Overtime after 40 hours a week, at 1.5×. Texas has no overtime law of its own, so the federal Fair Labor Standards Act sets the rule. There is no daily overtime: a 12-hour shift is not overtime unless the week goes past 40.
• No holiday premium. Neither federal nor Texas law requires extra pay for working Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other holiday. A holiday premium is company policy.
• Bonuses and incentives raise the overtime rate. Non-discretionary bonuses and shift incentives count in your regular rate, so overtime is 1.5 times the higher figure, not just your base wage.
• Paid holidays you don’t work don’t count toward 40. A week with 8 hours of holiday pay and 36 hours worked has no federal overtime.

When a holiday shift falls in an overtime week

If holiday hours are paid at time and a half, federal law lets an employer count that premium toward the overtime it owes for the same week (29 CFR 778.203 and 778.219). Say you earn $17 an hour and work five 10-hour shifts including Thanksgiving:

If the holiday premium and overtime are both paid in full, the week comes to $1,020 instead. Your pay statement shows which happened: compare the hours paid at the higher rate with the hours you worked over 40 plus the hours you worked on the holiday.

How to check your H-E-B paycheck

1. Add up the hours you worked in each workweek, not across the whole pay period.
2. Make sure every hour over 40 in a week was paid at 1.5 times your rate.
3. For a holiday shift, compare what you were paid with what your store told you the holiday rate would be, and get that answer in writing from Partner Services if you can.
4. If overtime is missing, raise it with your store leader or Partner Services first. If it isn’t fixed, the Texas Workforce Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor both take wage claims (a TWC claim must be filed within 180 days of the payday the wages were due); here is how to file one.

To see what a week should pay, use the time and a half calculator or the holiday pay calculator. The Texas overtime calculator has the state’s minimum wage and tipped-wage rules.

Sources

• Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA, U.S. Department of Labor
• 29 CFR 778.203: Premium pay for holiday work, Code of Federal Regulations
• Texas Payday Law wage claims, Texas Workforce Commission
• H-E-B holiday and PTO questions answered by employees, Indeed (employee reports, not H-E-B policy)